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Research Archive

The Chinese government has a comprehensive, long-term industrial strategy to build internationally competitive domestic firms and replace foreign technology and products with domestic equivalents first at home, and then abroad. This issue brief serves as a primer on the policies in the Chinese government’s toolbox for achieving its technonationalist targets, to include localization, massive subsidies for R&D, government procurement, China-specific standards, foreign investment restrictions, recruitment of foreign talent, state-directed acquisition of foreign technology and intellectual property, and, in some cases, industrial espionage. 03/28/2018

In November and December 2017, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force conducted at least nine long-distance training flights over maritime areas along China’s periphery, continuing a trend that began in 2015. Since 2015, long-distance over-water training has become more frequent, featured a greater variety of aircraft, and extended into areas in which the air force had not previously operated. The long-distance over-water training is part of a broader PLA Air Force effort to transition from a service focused on territorial air defense to one capable of conducting offensive and defensive operations beyond China’s coast. These flight activities potentially challenge U.S. interests by (1) improving the PLA Air Force’s capability to execute maritime missions against the United States and U.S. allies and partners in the region; (2) gathering intelligence against the U.S. military and U.S. allies and partners; and (3) reinforcing claims in maritime disputes and pressuring Taiwan. 03/22/2018

Highlights of This Month’s Edition
• Bilateral trade: In January 2018, the U.S. goods deficit with China grew 14.8 percent year-on-year to reach $36 billion—its highest ever for January and its highest monthly level since September 2015.
• Bilateral policy issues: The U.S. Department of Commerce submits its Section 232 recommendations for tariffs or quotas on U.S. steel and aluminum imports; SEC blocks acquisition of Chicago Stock Exchange by Chinese-led investor group based on concerns over transparency, oversight, and compliance with ownership limits; AmCham and USCBC surveys of U.S. businesses in China find some signs of rising optimism due to increasing profits and confidence in China’s economic growth, but regulatory and market access challenges persist as firms feel increasingly unwelcome in Chinese markets.
• Policy trends in China’s economy: In their continuing battle against financial risks, Chinese regulators maintain focus on shadow banking, issuing a series of measures to curb riskier forms of lending.
• Sector focus – Sorghum and Soybeans: In response to defensive U.S. trade measures, China considers duties against U.S. sorghum and soybeans, putting 67 percent of U.S. agricultural exports to China at risk.
03/09/2018

Highlights of This Month’s Edition
• Bilateral trade: In 2017, the U.S. goods trade deficit with China climbed 8.1 percent on the previous year to $375.2 billion, the highest deficit on record; U.S. services exports to China grow at the slowest rate since 2009 due to a slowdown in tourism to the United States.
• Bilateral policy issues: The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s 2017 report on China’s adherence to WTO commitments criticizes China’s noncompliance, noting “it is now clear that the WTO rules are not sufficient to constrain China’s market-distorting behavior.”
• Quarterly review of China’s economy: China’s economy grew 6.9 percent year-on-year in 2017, driven by greater domestic consumption, higher industrial output, and global demand.
• Policy trends in China’s economy: The Chinese government takes steps to discourage bitcoin mining in its latest crackdown on the cryptocurrency; China’s central bank adjusts exchange rate management regime.
• Sector focus – Chinese Outbound Investment: Chinese investment into the United States drops 35 percent following China’s imposition of capital control measures; newly announced Chinese investment deals in the United States are 90 percent lower in 2017 than 2016; concerns over espionage activity, opaque ownership structures, and a lack of privacy protections for U.S. customers cause HNA and Ant Financial’s U.S. acquisition transactions to flounder and terminate Huawei’s mobile phone partnerships with U.S. carriers.
02/07/2018

Highlights of This Month’s Edition
• Bilateral trade: The U.S. trade deficit in goods with China totaled $35.4 billion in November 2017, its highest monthly level in the past two years and a 16.2 percent increase year-on-year.
• Bilateral policy issues: President Trump issues National Security Strategy calling for more assertive policies to combat Chinese influence campaigns and economic coercion; the U.S. government is pursuing multilateral and bilateral approaches to confront China’s market-distorting support for sectors such as steel and aluminum.
• Policy trends in China’s economy: At the Central Economic Work Conference, Chinese leaders maintain last year’s focus on financial risks and supply-side structural reform but place less emphasis on deleveraging; IMF cites China’s credit growth, regulation, and implicit credit guarantees from banks and government actors as top concerns in its most recent financial system stability report.
• Sector focus – Consumer Goods: U.S. consumer goods exports to China experience consistent growth from 2003 to 2016 despite accounting for a small portion of U.S. exports to China; on December 1, the Chinese government cut tariffs on several products, including top U.S. consumer good exports.
01/08/2018

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission invites submission of proposals to provide copyediting and proofreading services to the Commission. Electronic or hard copy proposals must be received by 5:30PM EST on January 22, 2018.12/18/2017

Highlights of This Month’s Edition
• Bilateral trade: In October 2017, U.S. goods trade deficit grew 13.2 percent year-on-year to reach $35.2 billion; year-to-date, the deficit reached $309 billion, up 7 percent year-on-year.
• Bilateral policy issues: President Trump traveled to China for a presidential summit with President Xi, which culminated in a series of business agreements worth about $250 billion, but no resolutions on higher-priority issues; citing wide-spread shortcomings in China’s economic reform, the U.S. Department of Commerce maintains its classification of China as a nonmarket economy, prompting China to launch a new WTO case against the United States.
• Policy trends in China’s economy: China announces plans to relax or eliminate caps on foreign ownership in Chinese financial institutions; NDRC launches third wave of mixed-ownership SOE reforms, seeking to introduce increased private capital in the state sector while simultaneously strengthening government’s role in the economy; Alibaba’s Singles’ Day reaches new sales record of $25.3 billion, eclipsing U.S. Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
• Sector focus – Commercial Aviation: U.S. and Chinese aviation regulations will recognize each other’s approvals for aircraft and aviation products, likely increasing U.S. imports of Chinese aircraft and aviation.
12/05/2017

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission submission of proposals to provide a one-time unclassified report on the U.S. role in China’s biotechnology development. Electronic or hard copy proposals must be received by 5:30PM EST on January 10, 2018.11/29/2017

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission invites submission of proposals to provide a one-time unclassified report on China’s Internet of Things. Electronic or hard copy proposals must be received by 5:30PM EST on January 5, 2018.11/27/2017

Highlights of This Month’s Edition
• Bilateral trade: In the third quarter of 2017, the U.S. goods trade deficit with China grew 6.7 percent due to increased imports; U.S. services exports to China reach a new record, driven by increases in tourism, financial services, and intellectual property payments.
• Bilateral policy issues: In a setback to China’s pursuit of market economy status, the EU adopts a new antidumping methodology and the United States implements new duties on imports of Chinese aluminum; U.S. experts and industry groups highlight several intellectual property and technology transfer challenges in China as part of the Administration’s Section 301 investigation.
• Policy trends in China’s economy: China delays a food safety certification program that would put $22 billion of U.S. exports at risk by two years; after lobbying by the EU, China ends a discriminatory ban on soft cheese imports; China’s government announces changes to China’s drug approval process that—if fully implemented—may reduce approval delays for U.S. drugs by several years.
• Quarterly review of China’s economy: Chinese government ensures high rate of growth for China’s economy in the run-up to the 19th Party Congress, but problems remain unaddressed.
• Sector focus – Electric Vehicles: China transforms into the global electric vehicle leader by leveraging state support and excluding foreign competitors.
11/03/2017

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The research papers in this section were prepared at the request of the Commission to support its deliberations. They are posted to the Commission’s website in order to promote greater public understanding of the issues addressed by the Commission in its ongoing assessment of U.S.-China economic relations and their implications for U.S. security, as mandated by P.L. 106-398 and P.L. 108-7. Their posting to the Commission’s website does not imply an endorsement by the Commission or any individual Commissioner of the views or conclusions expressed in them.

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The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission was created by the United States Congress in October 2000 with the legislative mandate to monitor, investigate, and submit to Congress an annual report on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, and to provide recommendations, where appropriate, to Congress for legislative and administrative action.